Christmas
in the 19th Century
By Anna Campbell
Hi to Mary-Anne! Thanks for having me as your
guest today. Hi to all you dedicated Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots
readers out there.
I’m delighted to be back here again, to introduce
Mistletoe Wishes, my new boxed set of
six previously published Christmas stories (available right now at a bargain
price!) and also to talk about Christmas during the Regency period.
People are often slightly surprised to hear that
Christmas as we celebrate it today is mainly a Victorian invention. In the
first quarter of the 19th century, Christmas wasn’t that big a deal.
In fact, concerned people like Leigh Hunt the writer were actively working to bolster
interest in the festival marking the birth of Christ because it was fading from
the public mind as a general celebration.
Can you believe that? The Sheriff of Nottingham in
the movie nearly got his way! They almost cancelled Christmas!
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves — Call Off Christmas! (1991).
A large part of the revival of the popularity of
Christmas can be put down to Charles Dickens and his A Christmas Carol which was published in 1843, well past the end of
the Regency age.
So what would you do at a Regency Christmas?
Well, you’d go to church. It was primarily a religious occasion. You’d do
something charitable. If you were lucky, you might have a nice dinner with
friends and family, as the rather well-fed bods in this cartoon by Cruikshank
are doing. Gift giving, especially among adults, doesn’t seem to have been
widespread.
All the tinsel and stuff is a later tradition,
although Deck the Halls gets it right
– one of the oldest traditions was bringing winter greenery inside as a
reminder that spring was on the way in a couple of months. You can see a trace
of that custom in the picture, with the holly in the chandelier. Kissing under
the mistletoe was also a game people played – lots of romantic possibilities
there!
A couple of unexpected bits of trivia. It’s often
stated that the Christmas tree came to England with Prince Albert when he
married Queen Victoria. That actually isn’t so – George III married a German
princess Sophie Caroline Marie of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (long name to put on a
Christmas card! Another Victorian tradition. First commercially available in
1843, clearly a BIG year for Christmas!). It seems she brought the tradition of
putting a tree in the house for Christmas with her, although the practice
didn’t spread much beyond the royal family until after Victoria and Albert tied
the knot in 1840. Another surprise is that Christmas puddings (which originally
included as much meat as sweet stuff) weren’t a widespread part of the season
until the 1840s either.
So a Regency Christmas was a much quieter, less commercial affair than the day we will enjoy in 2018. I’m not Scrooge, screaming “Bah, humbug!” at every manifestation of the festive season, but a hint of Regency subtlety mightn’t go astray at my local shopping centre which, as I write this, is groaning under a weight of tinsel and ribbon, and playing Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer on repeat.
Giveaway
*Giveaway is now closed.
Winner announced in the comments.
*Giveaway is now closed.
Winner announced in the comments.
I’m giving away a Kindle download of Mistletoe Wishes: A Regency Christmas Collection to someone who comments. No geographical restrictions.
Just tell me what your favourite Christmas tradition is. I like pretty much everything about Christmas but I think my absolute favourite bit might be hearing all the lovely carols again.
Giveaway Rules
• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm BST on December 30.
You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY.
•Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
•Winners will be announced in the comments.
• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
A Regency Christmas Collection!
Six breathtakingly romantic Christmas treats from Anna Campbell,
together in one collection at last – and all at a bargain price!
Her Christmas Earl: To save her sister from scandal, Philippa Sanders ventures into a rake’s bedroom – and into his power. Now only a hurried Christmas marriage can rescue her reputation.
A Pirate for Christmas: What is vicar’s daughter Bess Farrar to do when the dashing new earl, the man gossip paints as a ruthless pirate, kisses her on their first meeting? Why, kiss him right back of course!
Mistletoe and the Major: After years of war, Major Lord Canforth returns to England a hero. Now he faces his greatest battle—to win the heart of the wife he hasn’t seen since their wedding.
A Match Made in Mistletoe: Serena Talbot makes a wish on the mistletoe—but the mistletoe gets it wrong! A Christmas of chaos and confusion lies ahead. Will mistletoe magic lead to a happy ending?
Anna Campbell
Australian Anna Campbell has written 10 multi
award-winning historical romances for Grand Central Publishing and Avon HarperCollins,
and 20 bestselling independently published novellas. She’s also written 2
full-length independently published novels, Lord
Garson’s Bride, the last instalment in her bestselling Dashing Widows
series, and The Laird’s Willful Lass,
the first book in The Lairds Most Likely. Look out for her novella, The Laird’s Christmas Kiss, in late
October, the second story in this new Scottish-set series.
